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A great idea for a photographic experience is to visit a modern business area. They are crammed with buildings, people, and often, art and gardens. They are often cities within a city. The city architecture is ideal for capturing :

reflections,
symmetry,
long straight lines,
angles,
colour
monochrome
sunbursts, and
shadows

Perhaps not everything in one afternoon. You get the idea. City architecture gives you great scope to practice techniques and be imaginative.

La Défense, Paris, France

My local city architecture is at La Défense, near Paris, France. You may have seen it from the Champs Elysées. It is named after the statue which still stands at street level in the centre of a large square. La Defense is built around its parvis and this means that you are almost always above street level.

Getting there

So you are tempted by the idea. How do you get to La Défense? Firstly you should note that it is often referred to as Paris La Défense, because it is very close to the city. But it is not actually in the city.

Car

Getting there by car is possible with many car parks available. La Defense is, for a large part, enclosed in a boulevard which is sort of pear shaped. If you miss your exit it may be easier to go around.

Public transport

The best way to get to La Défense is public transport. It has :

International and local bus stations
Express city trains RER A
Local trains
Metro M1
Tram
Bicycle
Scooters

Many arrive at dedicated stations under street level. Therefore you will have to work your way up to the parvis level. Perhaps the only gotcha I can think of is that the metro station is part of the standard city zone. Because of this M1 is a cheap and easy way of getting there. The RER A is quicker but classed as zone 3 so yoiu need a special ticket to get from the Champs Elyséés to La Défense on the RER.

I will not reinvent the wheel, they have a web site that gives much more information. It will open in a new tab, just click here.

How long to allow

It is a large area, and takes around 30 minutes to walk the 2.5km end to end. And if you’re going to be zigzagging and stopping to take pictures you really should be looking at around an hour minimum. This will give you chance to see a large part of the area. You can download a detailed map available here.

There are some impressive building to see:

The twin towers of the Société Générale in the Valmy area, in my dreams a setting sun between the 2 would be spectacular
The Grande Arche, at the railway end of the Parvis. It’s a cube with 2 faces missing.
The CNIT, built in 1958, it was the first building and has a unique triangular structure.

There are also many pieces of sculpture spread across the whole area.

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As the Arc de Triomphe is located at the top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and Avenue de la Grande-Armée it is easy to get to. Well served by bus routes and, most importantly, the station Charles de Gaulle Etolie, on the RER A and several metro lines, 1, 2 and 6. Access to the Arc de Triomphe monument is via a tunnel which is located at the very top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. Do not even think about crossing the road!

Entrance is by ticket only. These can be purchased in advance, or at the ticket booth in the tunnel. Do not queue if you have a ticket already. On the other hand don’t purchase a ticket if you meet the free entry criteria. Free entry was available when I went, for example, for under 18s, and EU students up to 25. For free entry you have to queue at the ticket booth. Information and tickets can be found here (opens in a new tab). It’s also worth noting that if you do not want to visit the interior and rooftop you do not need a ticket nor do you queue. You can just follow the stairs up to the surface and visit the tomb of the unknown soldier, the exterior of the monument and the place. I have been very happy doing this many times.

Outside the Monument

There is plenty to see just around the monument if you choose not to visit inside, for example you find it too busy.

Getting to the roof

Fortunately for the less able access to the roof top is available by elevator. There are many ramps too to help avoid steps. It’s also worth noting there are toilets in the roof area.

However most visitors are expected to climb up and down the spiral staircases. There are 284 steps. Your thighs will burn at the top. Finally there is a security check before you can enter and bags cannot exceed: 40x40x20cm.